5 most disappointing Vikings players of the 2020 season

Ifeadi Odenigbo – DE

Ifeadi Odenigbo was supposed to take the next step in 2020. He was coming off a breakout season in 2019, where he came off the bench and had seven sacks. This guy was a ball of energy on the field and it seemed every time he lined up, something good was going to happen. Seeing him take the next step and become a starter in 2020 was something many Vikings fans were stoked about.

Those feelings of excitement were dashed pretty quickly. Odenigbo was miffed with the team when they went out and traded for Yannick Ngakoue. At first blush, this moved him to the bench, and he made some comments on Twitter expressing his displeasure. It turned out that move was made to help replace Hunter since he would miss the season with a neck injury, and Odenigbo would end up starting regardless of the trade.

Odenigbo proved one thing with his play as a starter in 2020, and that is he’s much better coming in as relief. Whether it was him getting tired or getting game-planned for, Odenigbo struggled to put pressure on the quarterback consistently. His snap count increased by 30 percent in 2020, yet his total sacks were cut in half.  Odenigbo can still have a meaningful role in this defense moving forward, but we learned that he isn’t starting material and is much better coming in on passing downs.